I just returned from voting in Virginia in the special election on the Democratic gerrymandered districts. It was fast and easy. Polling place workers said that they had a couple of hundred voters in just the last few hours.  I hope that you will participate if you live in the state.

I have long opposed gerrymandering by both parties.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger captures the hypocrisy of politicians attempting to justify these power grabs.  Even before this vote, she was widely criticized for running as a moderate but then veering to the far left as soon as she was elected. Her polling numbers reflect a “stunning” drop in support due to the bait-and-switch.

No issue is more glaring than her vocal opposition to gerrymandering in any form before she ran for governor. In 2019, when the Supreme Court halted redistricting, Spanbergger declared:

“This is good news for Virginia and the country. Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.”

However, now that Democrats control the legislature, Spanberger changed her position and is pushing the most extreme gerrymandered map in the nation — a move that would take an almost evenly divided delegation and wipe out all but one Republican district. In a state considered purple and divided down the middle, the Democrats would seize 10 of 11 absurdly crafted districts, including one called “the lobster” for its contorted shape.

The Democrats are insisting that they are merely responding to Texas, but this is far more extreme than in other states. Moreover, this is a purple state where Democrats are not even trying a modest accommodation for roughly half of the voters. It is a simple muscle play to suspend the state constitution despite a prior commitment to bar gerrymandering.

Spanberger believes in fighting gerrymandering unless it works to her party’s advantage.  Others have shown greater integrity. For example, Republicans in Indiana control the legislature but have refused to gerrymander the state, even “temporarily.”

The radical proposal is only possible because Virginia was once widely cited as a model of fairness in voting. Spanberger and the Democrats have now shattered that model.

Not only are the Democrats wiping out the representation of roughly half of the state (in the name of protecting Democracy), but polls show that the voters are sharply divided.  A slight majority is polling in favor of the move. Yet, that division is not reflected in the measure itself, which lacks any moderation or restraint. Democrats are simply wiping out almost every Republican district because they can.

The fact that Democrats are ignoring the unfairness to half of their neighbors shows how rage politics has taken hold of the country.

It is a quick vote on a single-issue ballot, but Virginians could send a powerful message of principle by defeating this measure and standing by their long-standing opposition to gerrymandering.